One issue of personal relevance to me would be gambling. Gambling because my dad likes to gamble a lot, though I don’t take that against him. I believe this action to be wrong, since general principles would say that it is wrong since it causes harm to oneself, and in some cases others as well.

I believe that there will always be a case when the action need not be considered bad or sinful. Let’s say a person enjoys playing, but does not really play so much. Gambling only does real harm when the bets become way too big. In that case when a person bets money minimal compared to his or her income, there really is no harm done to oneself. At the same time, there is also those criteria we consult. Knowledge, freedom and serious harm. Gambling is something done by considerably wealthy people only and there will almost always be adequate knowledge and adequate freedom on the part of the gambler. What makes the difference is the serious harm. Some gambles don’t really do serious harm to themselves or their family, while of course there would be some that gamble to the extent that they ruin their lives and those close to them. In that case it would already be a grave sin. However, in the case of those that gamble sparingly, it is not really a grave and sinful act. However it is still wrong.

I believe myself to be a moral rationalist since I take into consideration the situation. Although I have the tendency to see the general principles are being unnecessary, I’ve come to realize that the general principle is also important. However, I have to admit that I see the situation to bear a bit more importance than the general principle, not that I’m discounting the importance of the general principles.

When it comes to gambling, it’ll always be better to just not do it. Don’t even start because once you start it tends to get addicting. It doesn’t really matter if the general principles are true or not in this case, through mere reason alone you can already see the harm that gambling might do. You might win you might lose, but it’s always best to be cautious. You’re not sure it’s right or wrong, so just don’t do it, you have nothing to lose anyway. You might say that you can just gamble a bit, but then it can really get addicting so best to just stay out of it.